Scaffold



March 5,1946-, fr s ZENQ 2,396,070

S CAFFOLD 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 2, L1.945

7 amuel ZCTZO' ATTORNEY March 5,1946.4 SZENQ 2,396,070

S CAFFOLD Filed Mauol"` 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 'Q'm u e l Z e 72 0 BY l me' TWA/@A ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 5, 1946 r scArFoLD Y Samuel Zeno, McKeesporbPa. y .Application Marche, 1945, serial No. 580,531

s claims. (loi. 304-111) My invention relates to scaffolds and particularly to those made in the form of portable units that can conveniently be transported from place to place. q f

One object ofmy inventionis to provide scaffold units that can readily be applied to standard formsy of ladders and whichcan vconveniently be kraised and lowered to desired height without the necessity of removing the walkways orscaifolding boards.

scaffold apparatus that can readily be assembled and disassembled for packing 'and'transportation In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatus; Fig. 2:is f

an enlargedplan View of the spreader or spacer element of Fig. l; Fig.y 3 is. an enlarged sectional plan view through the structure of Fig. 1 showing the staging portion of the apparatus in plan, andY Fig. 4 is aview showing certain of the elements of the structure of Fig; l, and taken on'the line IV-IV.

V Another object of my invention is to` provide length that it will extend The apparatus can be employed in connection l with ladders of various standard forms, having ythe usual stiles 6 and rungs 1.

A spacer or spreader device is removably connected to an upper portion of the ladderand comprises across bar 3 that may be ofspringy wood or spring metal and havingse'cured thereto a pair of gripper arms 9 that are braced by struts IB, theouter ends of the membersS-'fl being riveted or bolted together at Il. In order to apply thev spreader to the laddeigthe arms are sprung apart as indicated by the dash lines in Fig. 2, the cross bar 8 flexing forthis purpose, as indicated by the dash lines. The bar 8 will abut against the side of the building with which the scaffold is to be used, and the spreader will be retainedin place by frictional force resulting from the resilience of the bar 8.

The apparatus includes a bracket structure having a pair'of horizontal bars I2 which are, however, here shown as made of a tube that is attened intermediate its end and at its extremities and suitably bent as shown in Fig. 3. These members could, of course, be made of flat bars, if desired. The bar l2 is attened and bent at its mid portion I3 to partially embrace a strut member I4 that, at its lower end, is connected with a tubular cross bar l5 that carries spoollike rollers I5 which make Vanti-frictional engagement with the ladder stiles 6.

A rod V2l extends through the outer ends of the arms l2 and carries a pipe 22 that bears against the outer edges of the stiles and functions as a Vmanipulated 'by its rope .along the s'tiles and roller for anti-frictional engagement with the stiles. A tube 23 is ywelded at its endsV to the bracket arms l2'.- rA flap board 231s tightly supported on the pipe 22 by straps 26, and when 'swungto its fullv line position of Fig. 1,will eX- tend beneath the tube 23 so that when it is resting on `a ladder rung lat points between the pipes 22 and 23, the bracket lwill be firmly supported.

. A tie rod 30 is connected at its lower end to the tube l5 las' shownmore clearly in Fig.4 and at its upper vend is connected to the tube 2,3. A

Vlooped member 3| is also connected to the tube rope 32 that extends upwardly 33 `that is connected to an I8 and to a rpull andaround a pulley upper rung of the ladder.

to the ground at apoint The flap board 25 is cut shown in Fig. 3, to acoutside the scaffolding. away at its inner edge as commodate rod 30.

ture areprovided to support Ythe endsofscaifolding boards or a walkway134, each bracket being to raise and lower that end of the walkway; 'In order to raise the scaffold boards at each end, the outerend ofthe rope 32 is pulled. This causes the pipe 22 to roll upwardly thereby rockthe ilap board 24 toward its dash line position of Fig. l. When the desiredheight has been reached, a slight lowering will cause the tube 2liv to rotate clockwise and swing the lower edge of the flap board into position above the next lower rung so that it can come to rest in itsfull line horizontal position. Because of the suspensionv of the board by the straps 25, it will tend to tilt to a position at which "itsinner or lower edge will swingfover a ladder In order to lower the bracket, the rope Vwill be pulled suiciently high to lift the flap board clear of the rung, whereupon movement of the rope 32 to itsdotted line position of Fig. l will hold the board in approximately a vertical position, and while rope is held close to the ladder, the bracket and the staging can be lowered.

I claim as my invention:

l. A scaffold device for use with ladders, comprising a bracket adapted to support a walking plank, means slidably supporting the bracket on ladder stiles, for movement longitudinally thereof, a device carried by the bracket, for releasably engaging ladder rungs and maintaining the bracket at desired vertical points on the stiles,

The rope is of suchV Two ladders `each containing the bracket struca rope connected to the bracket and adapted to be looped over a guide at the top of the ladder, so that a pull on the free end of the rope will raise the bracket along the stiles, the said device being arranged to swing downwardly relative to the bracket when it is being elevated, and to swing into supporting position over a rung when it has been raised past hthe same, the said device being pivotally supported intermediate its edges, and its outer edge being engageable by the rope, whereby it may be tilted out of engagement with the ladder rungs when the free end of the rope is moved toward the ladder.

2. A scalold device for use with ladders, comprising a bracket adapted to support a walking plank, means slidably supporting the bracket on ladder stiles, for movement longitudinally thereof, a bracket-supporting device comprising a member pivo-ted thereon at the outer side of the ladder and with its inner end normally extending beneath an upper portion of the bracket at the inner side of the ladder and arranged to automatically move into overlying relation on a ladder rung, at a point between its said inner end and the pivoted point, and means for raising and lowering the bracket and for swinging and holding the said member out of rung-engaging position, the last-named means comprising a rope connected to the bracket and adapted to be looped over a guide at the top of the ladder.

3. A scaiold device for use with ladders, comprising a bracket adapted to support a walking plank, means slidably supporting the bracket on ladder stiles, for movement longitudinally thereof, a bracket-supporting device comprising a member pivoted thereon with its inner end extending beneath the bracket and arranged to automatically move into overlying relation on a ladder rung, at a point between its said inner end and the pivoted point, and means for raising and lowering the bracket, the said member being pivoted intermediate its end, and a rope connected tothe bracket and adapted to be looped over a guide at the top of the ladder, whereby it may `be used to raise and lower the bracket, and the outer strand of the loop be moved against the outer edge of the pivoted member to hold it tilted out of rung-engaging position, when lowering the stage.

4. A scaiold `device for use with ladders, comprising a bracket adapted to support a walking plank, means slidably supporting the bracket on ladder stiles, for movement longitudinally thereof, a bracket-supporting device comprising a member pivoted thereon with its inner end extending beneath the bracket, means carried by the bracket and rotatably engaging the ladder stiles, for rocking the said member toward and from horizontal position during raising and lowering movements of the bracket.

5. scaffold structure comprising a ladder, a spreader having arms frictionally gripping upper portions of the' ladder stiles in position to extend horizontally against a vertical wall and adjustable longitudinally cf the stiles, a bracket slidably engaging the stiles of the ladder and extending from the ladder toward the wall, means operable from the ground, to raise the bracket on the stiles,

` and means for automatically locking the bracket at its raised positions.

6. A scaffold device for use with ladders, comprising a Ibracket adapted to support a walking plank, means slidably supporting the bracket on ladder stiles, for movement longitudinally thereof, a bracket-supporting device comprising a board pivotally connected to the bracket at the outer side of the ladder and with its inner endV movable into position above a ladder rung and beneath a portion of the bracket at the inner= side of the ladder, means for raising and lowering the bracket, and means for simultaneously swinging the board into and out of overlying relationship with a ladder rung.

'7. A scaiold devicefor use with ladders, comprising a bracket adapted to support a walking plank, means slidably supporting the bracket on ladder stiles, for movement longitudinally thereof, a bracket-supporting device comprising a roller rotatably carried by the bracket in position to engage the outer edges of the stiles for rotative movement thereon during raising and lowering movements of the bracket, together with a holding mem-ber connected to the roller and tiltable through rotative movements of the roller into and out of overlying relation to ladder rungs, and means for releasably retaining said holding member in inoperative position during the lowering movements of the bracket.

8. A scaiold structure comprising a ladder, a spreader'having arms frictionally engaging the ladder stiles and extending transversely'thereof in position to seat against a wall at their free ends, means Yon the spreader arms for holding the stiles against movement in directions longitudinally of the arms, the spreader being slidably adjustable longitudinally of the stiles, a bracket slidably engaging the stiles of the ladder and extending from the ladder toward the wall, in a plane below the spreader, and means shifting the bracket longitudinally ofthe stiles.

SAMUEL ZENO. 

